Though at this point we can’t say we’re necessarily surprised, it appears the Verizon branded Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone will see yet another launch date. Earlier this week, it looked as though December 9th was the day, as both Verizon and Best Buy stores were starting to receive shipments of the flagship Android 4.0 Google phone.

Droid-Life received a slew of emails this morning which indicate that the Galaxy Nexus is no longer launching on Friday, but has been postponed to a yet to be determined date. Corroborating these emails were snapshots of Verizon’s internal Equipment Guide system. Just a few days ago, the Equipment Guide system was showing the Galaxy Nexus with a launch date of 12/9, but today’s update has changed that page to state a less-optimistic “coming soon.”

With the rumored launch just two days away, and still no official announcement to be had from Verizon, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that this phone will not be launching on Friday. Though the fact that stores are starting to receive their inventories is hopeful, with all the delays that have hit the LTE version, we’re starting to doubt that Verizon will actually see this phone in 2011.

Update: Add December 13th to the never ending list of rumored launch dates.

Forget worst nexus launch. This may be the worst launch of any device in history! You people (vzw and google) need to get your stories straight and get on the same page with each other! This has gone past the point Of being rediculous!

HYPE?, Verizon has held this device underwraps for months. the hype has come from the android fan sites and people (myself included) wanting to get their hands on the nexus. the delay may very well be Verizon’s fault but they haven’t invested anywhere near the advertising or push that they have done with the RAZR or ReZound

I honestly can’t believe google didn’t learn their lesson not to rely on Verizon. They have done nothing but delay products making them and google look bad. Verizon has always been late to the game with releasing dated phones and the ONE time they are ahead of the game with the chance for ICS exclusivity they blow it up in their own faces

I’m with you. I’ve been waiting since my upgrade date last February to get rid of my LG Env touch to finally get my first smartphone. Was going to get the Thunderbolt, but the battery life scared me off, so I waited for the Bionic, but the hype for the Galaxy S II, which ended up not being released on Verizon. So I decided to wait for the Galaxy Nexus. At this point, I might just get the iPhone :p

The bloat is only two apps and can easily be removed (either disabled through ICS’s feature or by rooting). Google Wallet has been hacked onto it.
While it may not be 100% pure Google experience, it’s the closest thing from Verizon since the OG Droid (and that even had Amazon MP3 preloaded).

seriously they should have taken notes on apples iphone launches! when you show a highly anticipated device, its in your best intrest to release relativly soon while people are still intrested. Oh well maybe the next nexus wont be a FAIL! I blame verizon!

Ordinarily you could say it’s definitely Verizon since the phone has already launched internationally, but the handset is significantly different – it could equally be problems from Samsung, or (far less likely) Google.

Either way, definitely not what one would call a particularly good launch process…

Biggest upside to this.. with other stores (BB and RadioShack) getting inventory on these devices already.. I’d say it’s safe to bet one or more of the stores will ‘accidentally’ still sell them having already read the documentation that indicates it releases on the 9th.

Even if VZW doesn’t officially release it, you’re going to have phones sold… YMMV may vary, but I’m willing to bet you could call some non-VZW Corp stores early on the 9th, and buy one.

As Anthony pointed out, it’s highly unlikely Verizon would break contracts due to this. Bestbuy would get a slap on the wrist for not moving fast enough to stop the sales (and lets face it, BB is notorious for catching mistakes too late) and they’d move on. VZW would have a larger ‘install base’ for beta testing, and they could plead ignorance to it and point out: ‘We told them to not sell the devices’.

That sorta thing goes on behind the scenes more than you might think ;)

I just talked to an independent Verizon retailer yesterday. He said they were getting in 5 phones today. I was going to wait till tomorrow to see if I could get one from him early. I will be checking with him today to see if he can accidentally sell me one this week. I am hoping he doesn’t know about the delay and will sell me one. I will let you know if I get it or not.

If you are buying it off contract I don’t see any problem with them selling non-activated phones. If you order a phone online it is not activated until you get it and either go online or call in to activate it.

I know we’re all pissed about this, but since Verizon has never announced an official launch date, it’s technically not a delay. I’d say that 90% of all consumers have still not heard about this phone.

Does the Verizon’s launch date affect other carrier launch dates as well? So say Verizon launches in January, we wouldn’t be able to get a handset until after their “exclusive” nexus rights has passed say Feb or March?

Doubt it. If Google is working on launching the phone with other carriers already, T-Mobile AT&T and Sprint would be pissed if they had to wait an extra 2-3 weeks because of Verizon’s issues with their LTE network. Why punish everyone else because of Verizon?

true, but there’s no reason why Google couldn’t make the Galaxy Nexus available directly to consumers through their site. Yes, Verizon and Sprint customers would still have to wait, but T-Mobile and AT&T subscribers wouldn’t have to worry about all this crap.

The biggest issue Google has with selling phones themselves is they don’t have a good grasp on customer service.

Biggest issue with Nexus release was Google relied on users helping each other through the Nexus one Forums they setup. That all fine and good for us techies, but for the normal user, they value 1 on 1 help from a person they can talk to. And frankly I doubt Google wants to go in that direction.

Called the local store (can literally see it out my window here at work) and was told while they can’t comment on the date of the device, they expect there will be an ‘abnormally large need for the device accessories on Friday’.

Agreed. There’s enough room for multiple android sites. However, that site is really tilted toward the OG Verizon Droid fanbase and those upgrading from there. Not a bad thing, but the discussions here are much, much better. And no one says “u mad bro?” on every post. Though of course, now that I’ve said it, I’m sure some one will say that here every post…

this is turning into another Droid Bionic….delay after delay.
Thankfully I’m not eligible for an upgrade until March, so I can wait…hopefully by then all the major bugs are taken care of and the price has dropped.

There really is no rhyme or reason to their delays. The conspiracy theorists saying that the Nexus delay is on purpose to somehow promote the Droid line need only look back to the Bionic non-release to see that no moniker is immune from the buzzkill that is Verizon Marketing.

I knew it…. I commented in another post ‘watch they delay it to next month at the last minute’… It’s beginning to seem like Galaxy Nexus is nothing more than just a myth in the tech world, the bigfoot of smartphones

Isn’t the point of a nexus phone to be a flagship, significantly advanced device? I what going to be the point of this when there’s arguably better/comparable Android phones on the market in such a close timeframe?

And to think, back in September, I was going to wait to hopefully get this device on Sprint… and stay stuck with a Blackberry curve #FirstWorldProblems…. thankfully I upgraded to the GSII..we have become best friends

I too hope that Google has learned their lesson with this – just put it on AT&T (please!) and call it a day. let Verizon figure out what they’re doing first and they when get their act together, let them quietly launch it. Apologies to those on Verizon waiting on this magnificent device.

the iphone launch was spot on because apple was probably in a better position to strongarm verizon than google. they seem to get whatever they want when they launch an iphone. visual voicemail for free? no problem.

There’s an old axiom in business: under-promise and over-deliver. If Verizon told us from the beginning that this thing would be available by ” the end of the year,” I would have been excited to see it on 12/30. Now, I’ll be disgusted whenever it’s released.

You make a good point. I’m not sure Verizon has officially released any date, so I suppose I can’t blame them completely.

But surely they recognize the level of attention this has received among what amounts to their most enthusiastic customer – us. I think they’d be wise to do something to manage expectations and not allow one disappointment after another.

Wow… I really was not a fan of big red before and now all of this. My OG Droid died, so I had to go to Cricket and get a low end, albeit Gingerbread, phone to get me through until the Nexus came out.

Now here I am two months later and still no release date. Carrier exclusivity is not a good thing, especially when it comes to Verizon. One of the reasons that Android is successful is has focused on the user not the consumer, not the carrier. Verizon is trying to change that culture which is very, very sad to see. :0(

Droid-Life has an update saying that the issue may be related to LTE network issues on Verizon’s front. Still quite frustrating, but if so, at least it would not be a phone-related problem. This has just been a horrible launch. Let’s hope Google is learning some lessons and has the next Nexus (and Android release) ready to go before announcing it. Would be much better that way.

it will be coming up on TWO MONTHS since they announced it and we cant buy it yet, and no word yet on release. AS WELL AS the almost certain exclusivity for verizon after it launches. verizon is just fucking everyone over by delaying so they can get whatever shit software they want on there. hopefully google doesnt put up with this sub par partner behavior anymore and gets their product in peoples hands.

I have been following this release for months and updating google searches every 20 minutes… I just called VZW they said no date for the galaxy nexus but she seemed to know more than she shared (called 4 other times earlier this week and they seemed very honest with me about not knowing).

I then called Costco…they said Friday without a doubt, she was positive….call your local stores and see what they tell you…I hope the delay is just a rumor, I cannot deal with my original droid anymore!

Yes, Costco could be wrong and didn’t get the memo yet but it’s something to keep my hopes up. Just wanted to share.

I have been following this release for months and updating google searches every 20 minutes… I just called VZW they said no date for the galaxy nexus but she seemed to know more than she shared (called 4 other times earlier this week and they seemed very honest with me about not knowing).

I then called Costco…they said Friday without a doubt, she was positive….call your local stores and see what they tell you…I hope the delay is just a rumor, I cannot deal with my original droid anymore!

Yes, Costco could be wrong and didn’t get the memo yet but it’s something to keep my hopes up. Just wanted to share my experience.

Funny, Bell Mobility Canada is still on for Dec 9th, with Pre-sale delivery starting today !!
Why would Verizon have such an issue putting these (Pure Android) phones out ? .. it’s not like they have to do anything to them, (beside maybe add a splash screen) ..
It sounds like they are having issues adding the spy-ware to the devices !!

Lmao! I can’t believe this lol. Google and Big Read are to big ass fails. I mean what is Google thinking to do this exclusive mess. It would’ve been out on other carriers by now. This phone is somewhat irrelevant to me honestly. I’m more curious about the next one now. Thank devs for CM9.

I wouldn’t blame Google. Keep in mind that the Nexus One was only on T-Mobile for 2 months before AT&T got it, while Verizon and Sprint never did. Also that T-Mobile & AT&T got the Nexus S at the same time, but Sprint didn’t get it until 5 months later, while again Verizon never did.

While I agree that Verizon has bungled this release, don’t be mad at Google about so called “exclusivity”, when the Nexus line has always been staggered here in the US.

This certainly keeps getting worse and worse for the Americans. Google needs to cut out the middle men and start their own carrier service, putting Verizon out of business. I will hopefully be getting my Nexus from Vodafone on 8th which is a sister company of verizon in the UK.

Like I said the other day; a phone that’s arguably the best in 2011 is about to be released in 3 days and the carrier doesn’t come forward to talk about or lunch it???? Stuff like this is making me feel better about my decision to forget about this phone and get a Samsung galaxy s2

I don’t care about the Verizon version. Where is my unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus??? My bet is that this Verizon debacle has caused the GSM version to be delayed because of some BS temporary exclusivity agreement. Come on Google, I thought you were better than this.

I’m getting ready to give up on android. (for phones at least) So sick of the BS. I’m on t-mobile. My Vibrant in a mess. If I completely start the phone from scratch it works well for like a week. This is just starts having issues where it freezes up, force closes on everything and worse. I have people telling me they can’t leave me messages.

I want a new phone, but what? A Galaxy S II was appealing before all the 720p screen phones started coming out. Anything good coming out is going to Verizon of AT&T only. I get my phone through work so to switch I have to pay on my own which I don’t really want to do.

The manufacturers and carriers keep pulling this BS and all we can do is sit there and take it. They all need to stop postponing phones for months at a time to put crap skins no one wants on them. We shouldn’t have to wait 5+ months for phones that are out in Europe to come to the US. They need to stop putting out phones that are only for one specific carrier. What you lose in money from the carriers you’ll more than make up for in customer loyalty.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m tired of be screwed by these companies and expected to just take it and smile. I’m really thinking about switching to a WP7. I hate how locked down it is, but it at least works and is available, which is better than where I am now.

That’s why Google should not have carrier exclusivity when they release their Nexus Lines. Why can’t they get a deal like apple, they control the software, the carriers control the network and release the phone on the same day on all major carriers….

Verizon wants people to lose interest. They would prefer you buy their more profitable phones that carry all the bloatware. I firmly believe that Verizon is selling this phone only so that they don’t have to compete with it during the holiday season. So they keep delaying it though the peak buying period so that the average buyer gets the phones that have their bloatware on it.

I think the problem is that Google fans like me and almost everyone that is reading this blog is OK with the Beta version of things that Google releases and fixes as they go. this is not a Verizon way of doing thing and especial after the Xoom 4G fiasco I’m sure they want everything to their standards before release.
I want this phone, but i can wait because i want it as a Verizon LTE device. If i couldn’t wait I’d spend $700 import one and go get a t-mo sim.

Let me throw this theory at you guys. Verizon buys the exclusive rights to this phone.. WHY????

Verizon realizes this phone is a legimitate threat of taking customers to another provider in the US, so they buy the exclusive rights. They set the release date of THE NEXUS around the same time as they drop another set of Smartphones that are good but not the Nexus, (amazing this is the same time span the first line of droid phones buyers come up for contract), they get people to highly anticipate this release, but keep delaying it. This pisses off the masses but all the while they keep releasing those other phones/// rezound, droid 4 (maybe), razr. So all the people who are pissed, and not willing to wait until verizon drops this phone, but also not willing to leave out of rage, lock themselves into a 2 year contract on a phone they have all their crap on.

Give it up to the guy who though of this brilliant strategy, honestly, it is amazing.

As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, this is not new for the Nexus line in the US. The closest we’ve seen is the Nexus S was released to T-Mobile and AT&T at the same time. Never has a Nexus been released to all carriers at once.

I’ve been saying this for a few weeks. Verizon has no desire to sell the Nexus, they just don’t want anybody else selling it. So they buy it and put it on the shelf so that it is not competing with their crapware filled RAZR and Rezound during the peak holiday buying period.

Great strategy by Verizon. They know that they have the best network and that most people simply can’t leave because of it. So what do you do?

I’d love to tell Verizon to go F-off, but I need the coverage and there really isn’t another option. Beside a lot of this is being done by Verizon to get people to go buy their crapware filled RAZR and Rezound.

So while it is frustrating, by waiting for the Nexus we are actually doing more to send a message to them that we can’t be forced into buying their crap phones.

Verizon is trying to sell RAZRs. Their CEO was carrying one today and singing its praises at an investor conference this morning.

Unfortunately, now that they realize that the Galaxy Nexus is going to be a huge phone, they are waiting to release it. It’s not like the RAZR and Rezound were delayed because it was thought they would cause network problems. They probably still activated a ton of those phones.

I don’t mind delays if there are actual bugs. My big issue is the total lack of communication. I rather they communicate anticipated launch dates and then communicate why they are pushing them out. Instead the leave us in the dark to grasp at rumors only to be constantly disappointed.

I sure Verizon doesn’t want to publish dates because they are afraid people won’t buy a phone today if they know when the next one is going to be released. But they just pissing us all off like this.

This has gotta be the most ridiculous launch of any product ever. Google should have never given Verizon exclusivity on this phone. Verizon’s Android success has come at the hands of the “DROID” phones. They could care less about the Nexus. Verizon is making a mockery of Google with this bullshit. I can’t just drop $750 to import the GSM version, so I gotta wait until it hits T-Mobile and I’m pretty certain Verizon is prolonging that whole thing with their bullshit. It’s just crazy! I hope Google learned their lesson on this one.

It’s starting to feel like Google and Samsung just want this phone to fail. I mean seriously, how the hell does Steve Wozniak get to have this phone weeks before any of us do? It just doesn’t make any sense.

That sounds more like it. They are waiting to launch the phone till the competition is ahead so they don’t have to play games to sell other bloated phones. The more the delay goes on the more I think this is true. They have launched lots of phones with issues and now they don’t think it is right.

I may be wrong but I don’t see that date posted anywhere on the form from when this was made. How do we know this isn’t an old form we are looking at? Do I think the phone us coming out Friday? Probably not but this and every other site I went to had no date or it said Friday the 12th when Friday is the 9th

I kinda hate to say it, but after the delays also seen on the Asus Transformer Prime, Google may need to adopt a more unified strategy (a la Apple) in software/product rollouts. Granted there has never been an official date, it’s been almost two months since the ICS debut, and “soon” was a long time ago, in the tech lexicon.

Now I am so glad I gave up constantly waiting for it and bought a 4s. I needed it for att and was afraid id have to wait until 2012 and then by that time it’s worth waiting for newer phones. After already waiting since march.

I waited 6 months for the Bionic, then didn’t buy it because it was halfway to obsolete. I’ve played with the RAZR, like some aspects but don’t love it, and was holding out for the Galaxy because of ICS. Now, my ancient OG Droid desperately needs replacement so I can run any app developed recently, and I just don’t know if I can wait forever. Darn you Verizon! What a Love/Hate relationship we have!

They’ll delay it until Dec. 24th, and have a big Merry Christmas campaign. Although… if they did this and had it for free on contract…. ? Hmmm… but really that’s no excuse, the longer they wait, the more heated everyone gets. They’re definitely not doing themselves any favors here. I sense they are burning many bridges with long time customers who have been waiting patiently for this phone.

ERRRR!!!!. Sometimes i have verizon. seriously. Enough with keeping the phones secret till they freaking launch. We are all sick and tired of guessing and playing these stupid games. Verizon is like the J.J abrahms(cloverfield,super 8) of carriers.

For a while it was fun reading everyone’s reaction to the delays in releasing the Galaxy Nexus thingy by Verizon. But now it is old news and practically expected – the delay that is.

What we should do is quit making any comments about it. Stop calling the Verizon stores. Stop sending verbose emails to Samsung or Verizon or your grandmother. Not one of them cares how we feel nor will they adjust their sales tactics to accommodate us – well, your grandmother might if she was selling the thing.

Just let it slide off the radar. Better yet, commit to NOT buying it when it comes out. How freakin’ long do you think Verizon and Samsung will take to recover their losses if no one buys the damn thing.

I’ve been an AT&T iPhone customer for a few years now. Recently (February) I moved to an area where AT&T has no 3g coverage. Not only am I stuck on the Edge network, I am using “Off-Network” towers, of which they limit data to 100 MB before turning off your data.

I was waiting for the new iPhone before switching to Verizon, but after being disappointed by the 4S, I decided to wait a little long for the Nexus. This wait is getting really hard.

Unlike most of you, I’m not just updating to a new phone, I’m updating from a non-working network to a new network, and I’ll get to re-experience what it’s like to actually be able to use data!

This is nothing compared to waiting for the unsuccessful Bionic. That drama went on for 9 months. I’m sure we will all have the SGN in our hands by Xmas. Does anyone know if the SGN will be 16 or 32GB?

It has been delayed approx a week due to software issues. The speculation here is borderline insane. Chill people. This phone isn’t that big of a deal anyhow….other than ics, which will soon be available on many other devices via ota download or rooting. It has a sub-par camera and no external memory. The UI is beyond bland. I just don’t understand the hype.

This really is a botched launch that seems to plague a lot of the Android phones. Specifically, it feels like there’s a long delay between product demo and the product hitting the shelf, especially when we’re told “coming soon.” I’m absolutely convinced the Dell Streak line was an epic fail because they couldn’t deliver that device in the Americas in a timely fashion.

Apple announces late but seems to make the product available shortly after (if you’re willing to wait in line…thank you Samsung!), keeping the excitement high. Here’s the flagship Google phone, fully unlocked, fully customizable (oops) and it’s delayed so long it’s not exciting.

To be honest, I’m disappointed in the specs of the phone as well. I have a young daughter and really need/want a rocking camera. The 5 MP vs whatever size isn’t as big a deal as the apparently suboptimal sensor. No removable storage is lame and I actually use FM in the gym to listen to the tv and play audio through the car stereo. But I was willing to overlook that for a Google Experience phone that would receive timely updates. But the delay will probably leave me looking for the next great device.

Unlike Apple, the technology cycle on Android phones is just too fast to make people wait very long to buy. We’re at a place where quad core phones are due out soon and phone prices drop by a half or more within a couple months.

The new Qualcomm 4G chipset’s been announced/released that might finally make 4G less of a power hog and Sharp has their new uber-camera sensor with image stabilization. Slap those in the same chassis with an unlocked bootloader and I’m all over it.

I am not planning to buy the Galaxy Nexus because I am stuck with my Nexus S. I have been following this closely though.

This the first time I have to give Apple the credit for managing customer expectation.

They scheduled their launch of the device periodically and give an exact date and price for the device at the launch. This typically launch with in a week or two after the announcement.

Why cant the Google and Verizon in this situation learn from its competitors or even do better than its competitors. Google and Verizon needs to think as its customer do. They need to manage their customer expectations better. If they are not ready to launch with the details push out the announcements. What part of creating customer experience and values do they not understand.

Come on. I’m having A LOT of awkward conversations when people look at my phone, say it’s nice and where can you buy it, and I have to explain you can’t because the newest phone is having launch problems, and they aren’t selling anymore Nexus S’s. I’m on the T-Mobile Nexus S

This phone is never going to release.. Google did a horrible job with this phone.. Instead of sticking with just cone carrier they should have have made this phone just like Nexus one open to all… COME ON GOOGLE!!!

I was seriously considering jumping from T-Mo to Verizon for this device. If it had come out last week I would have. LTE coverage from VZ is pretty extensive where I live (T-Mo does have HSPA+ 42 here too but not as large a deployment) but after this waiting game I just don’t know. The HSPA version is starting to trickle into more well known etailers, Newegg has it @ $699 w/ free shipping now.. Think I’m going to wait till after the first of the year and see if the HSPA version drops to $650, if so thanks anyway Verizon I’ll stick w/ T-Mo..